~ Musings on Authorship & Inspiration

Monthly Archives: April 2013

This week, I had the exciting news that the fantastic Lorinda Taylor, author of The Termite Queen, wrote a really great piece about the rusalka, a creature from Slavic folklore, featuring Konstantin’s Gifts as part of the analysis! Read it here.

In Konstantin’s Gifts, I took the idea of the rusalka, which in folklore is primarily an aquatic entity (rather like a cross between Peg Powler, Jenny Greenteeth or grindylows of English folklore, and a siren), and extrapolated the idea of rusalki that could be connected to other elements. In my case, one of my characters becomes part fire rusalka. I had such fun, creating a new mythology and folkloric setting of stories and rumours relating to the nature of the fire rusalka.

Other semi-recent works featuring the rusalka include C.J. Cherryh’s Rusalka, which was set far earlier in Russian history, during the period of the Kievan Rus (and which I’ll confess I haven’t read…. yet!) and Dvorak’s opera. Here’s the justly celebrated aria, “Song to the Moon” from Mr. D’s work–a lovely, lyrical, wistfully yearning piece. This version features Lucia Popp (the chorus comes at about 1:24, and I suggest you wait for it… it gets me every time):

There should be a special circle of Hell reserved for line-jumpers. One in which they are perpetually and endlessly driven to cut the line, and they are forever thwarted and condemned for it.

Hyperbole aside, I realised today, as we encountered a spot of roadwork on the highway and were forced to trickle down to a single lane, that the aggravation of waiting was actually quite mild (so long as I’m not in a rush), relative to the anger I feel at the sight of someone trying to jump the line. And though I am usually a fairly calm person, it is something akin to rage that I experience at the sight of such behaviour.

When I react so strongly to something, I often like to step back and ask myself “why”? What button is this particular behaviour pushing in my psyche? Continue reading →

So I have this book in my mind that I want to write. Magical Realism. A family saga. It’s a piece that is deeply important to me because of legacy.

What do I mean by legacy?

I have always valued ancestral narrative, family stories–all the myths and lore that grow up around the things our parents, grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and other family members did during their time in the dash between birth and death years listed on their headstones (my heirloom stories idea is also a reflection of this, in shorter form). I had always dreamed of passing those stories down to further generations to come.

When I found out I was infertile, it was difficult. But, as those whose lives have been touched by it know, it’s not a closed door. Though in the wider parlance, “infertility” sounds stark and difficult and definitive, in modern medical speak it actually just means that a certain amount of time has passed during which a couple has been trying to conceive, and nothing has come of the attempts. So it’s more the naming of a question mark than of a final outcome. There are things you can do. Fertility drugs. IVF. Etc.

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I’ve tried a couple of different apps whose purpose of existence is to alert users to the existence of other apps that are temporarily discounted or free. So far, the standout for me is Apps Gone Free. I’m not a … Continue reading →

A while back, I did a side-by-side review of the in-app dictation software in the more recent iOS versions and the free Dragon dictation app. The in-app software won (sad though I am to admit it, as I do love … Continue reading →

Looking back through my old posts, I was simultaneously astonished and chagrined that I had not yet written anything about Goodreader. It was one of my early purchases on the iPad and has been one of my top, go-to apps … Continue reading →

I’m a productivity junkie. Modern life, with all its devices, information and demands means that if you’ve got your fingers in more than one pie (and most of us do) we can’t afford to waste a moment–and that if we’re … Continue reading →